


Leo's last goodbye

by ComeRoundSoon



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 01:45:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11003391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComeRoundSoon/pseuds/ComeRoundSoon
Summary: This is a story about Leo's letter that he leaves for his friends as his shroud burns. It definitely requires pre knowledge of the Percy Jackson series, specifically Heroes of Olympus. It does diverge from the plot a little bit, but not too much.





	Leo's last goodbye

Camp Half-Blood was shrouded in black. By the time the war was over, so many people had died that shrouds covered the majority of the dining pavilion. The most intricate shroud was the saddest of all, Leo Valdez’s shroud, adorned with interlocking celestial bronze gears and flames carved into the wood. Leo had sacrificed his life to save the world and we didn’t even have a real body to burn, just a wooden coffin. Fire engulfed the coffin, catching on the wood and melting the celestial bronze; a column of smoke rose fifteen feet high, and out of the top a letter appeared. It fluttered down into Nico Di Angelo's lap, and on the front there was scrawled writing, Leo’s handwriting, “To: My Friends From: Leo” Nico tore into the paper envelope and pulled out a letter, he looked down and began to read. It started,

“Hey guys, so I guess I’m dead, if you’re reading this, sorry about my sudden demise. I wanted to talk about the last few weeks, with you, with Calypso”

At the first mention of Calypso’s name Percy flinched

“And essentially say thank you, these last weeks were the greatest of my life. I’ll start when I fell through the sky and broke a fountain. (?????) You all know I was blasted to Ogygia by Khione, but you don’t know how that shaped my death. Falling through the sky was terrifying, and building a parachute while hurtling through the sky was difficult, to say the least. But, even with a parachute I still broke a fountain, Calypso teased me about it the whole time, I also fixed that fountain and about a hundred other broken things on that island, not important. Anyway I saw Calypso and oh my gods,”  
“When I saw her, my feelings of inadequacy and scrawniness came back. Her beauty reminded me of the first time Tia Callida, Hera, put me in the hearth when I was a baby. It was a kind of warmth that I haven’t felt since, like being wrapped in summer during the winter solstice, Calypso’s beauty gave me that feeling all over again.”  
Nico had to stop reading at this point, his head tilted down and tears dripped onto the letter, smudging some of the ink. Percy tried to take his girlfriend, Annabeth's, hand, but she shook him away, all her jealousy of Calypso coming raging back in a tidal wave of anger. After composing himself, Nico continues.  
“She hated me at first, she wanted me to leave the second I stepped on the sand, but her punishment wouldn’t allow it, so she dealt with me. I’ve had some pretty incredible moments in my life, finding Festus, finishing the Argo II, but none of those moments held a candle to when I truly fell for Calypso. It wasn’t when she kissed me, it wasn’t when she sang, it was when she was working with me. She was leaning over some celestial bronze when it happened, there was dirt rubbed across her cheek, her hair was pulled back so it didn’t bother her, I have never seen anyone so incredible. The moment I fell, my stomach came up into my throat and time stopped, there was no Gaea, no danger, just Calypso. It was incredible”

Nico stopped again, this time to look up at the hand on his shoulder. It belonged to his boyfriend, Will Solace, who smiled softly at him with wet eyes. Nico smiled back then continued.

“I didn’t know she liked me, heck I’m still not sure, I constantly thought that I wasn’t enough for her, how could I compete with guys like Odysseus and Percy.”

Annabeth stomped away, her grey eyes stormy.

“Percy, you are one of my best friends, but I’m a little annoyed with you, how could you leave her there on that island to rot? She is-was the kindest person I ever met, she made me fireproof clothes because I kept setting my own on fire”  
“But this letter is not to blame you Percy, or anyone. Calypso shaped my life, she is the reason I came up with this crazy plan. It was a split second decision, I was on the raft leaving Ogygia and I realized I would either get back to Calypso, or die trying. I finally understood the line of the prophecy ‘An oath to keep with a final breath’ and even knowing exactly what would happen, I said the words that sealed my fate. “I’ll come back for you Calypso, I swear on the River Styx,” thunder rumbled and my death became inevitable.”

Nico stopped, the silence was tangible in the dining pavilion. Annabeth came out of her cabin and stood with Percy just as Nico started to read again.

“I ended up enlisting Hazel to help me execute my plan, thanks for that Hazel, by the way. I rebuilt Festus’s body and stole the Physician's cure, meaning maybe I didn’t die. I had a plan to defeat Gaea, and none of you could know until it was already happening. Mostly because it’s a dangerous plan and you guys would try to talk me out of it but, also because I didn’t want you guys to know that I was going to die. That’s why I wrote this letter, I wanted you guys to know everything, but not until there was nothing left to be done. And that’s how my plan formed, no long deliberating, just an instinct and a decision. I’m okay with it, and hey, maybe I’ll live, maybe not. But, if I don’t, I wanted to say that if I had to fight against Gaea with anybody, I’m glad it was with you guys. Thank you, and goodbye.”

A different kind of silence settled over the camp, one of utter defeat. Leo was gone, really and truly gone. Nico crumpled up the letter and threw it onto the fire, as it burned he said, “Thank you Leo, and goodbye.”


End file.
